Transcriptome
Genomics · Molecular Biology · Bioinformatics
Say it: tran-SKRIP-tohm
The transcriptome is the full set of RNA molecules made in a cell, tissue or organism at a given time, showing which genes are active.
Also: transcriptomes
Definition
What is the transcriptome?
Where the genome is the DNA a cell carries, the transcriptome is the collection of RNA it is producing from that DNA, along with the amount of each transcript. It includes the messenger RNAs that will be translated into proteins and the many noncoding RNAs, such as ribosomal, transfer and microRNAs, that do other jobs. Some researchers use the word for messenger RNA alone.
Unlike the genome, which is nearly identical in every cell, the transcriptome differs between cell types and changes with development, disease and the cell's surroundings. That makes it a snapshot of gene expression, revealing which genes are switched on, and how strongly, in a particular place and moment. Alternative splicing adds to its variety, because one gene can contribute several distinct transcripts.
Transcriptomes were once measured with microarrays and are now usually read by RNA sequencing, including single-cell methods that profile thousands of individual cells. Comparing them helps define cell types, find genes that change in disease and suggest the role of unknown genes from where they are active. Projects such as GTEx map the transcriptome across human tissues.
Word parts
Where does the word “transcriptome” come from?
- transcript
- a written copyLatin transcriptum, from transcribere, to copy out
- -ome
- the whole setfrom genome
Practice it
Where you'll meet it
Related
Terms that go with it
- RNA sequencingRNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is a method that uses high-throughput sequencing to identify and count the RNA molecules in a sample.
- Gene expressionGene expression is the use of a gene's information to make a working product, usually a protein or a functional RNA molecule.
- Messenger RNAMessenger RNA is the RNA copy of a gene that carries protein-building instructions from DNA to the ribosomes, where it is read in three-base codons.
- GenomeA genome is the complete set of DNA in an organism or cell, including all of its genes and the stretches of DNA between them.
- ProteomicsProteomics is the large-scale study of the proteome, the full set of proteins in a cell, tissue or organism, including their amounts, changes and interactions.
- TranscriptionTranscription is the process in which a cell copies the DNA sequence of a gene into a matching strand of RNA.
Sources
Checked against
Written for biofideX in plain words, after checking these references:
- NHGRI: Transcriptome Fact Sheet
- NCBI MeSH: Transcriptome
- Wang, Gerstein and Snyder, RNA-Seq: a revolutionary tool for transcriptomics, Nature Reviews Genetics (2009)
Last updated
Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll correct it.
Practice Genomics
Free genomics quizzes, with an explanation for every answer.
See the Quizzes